NEW YORK – Galal Yafai continues to thrive in the infancy of his pro career.

The 2020 Olympic Gold medalist from Birmingham, England made quick work of Philadelphia’s Miguel Cartagena, forcing a stoppage after two lopsided rounds of action. Cartagena was battered to the point of his corner disallowing him to continue their flyweight bout Saturday evening at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Yafai repeatedly rocked Cartagena in the opening round, landing his straight left hand virtually at will. Cartagena managed to remain upright but not remotely competitive.

Things grew from bad to worse in round two, where Cartagena found himself under siege and unable to fend off the relentless Brit. An uppercut snapped back the head of Cartagena while trapped in his own corner as Yafai moved in to close the show. Two sequences saw Cartagena hit the canvas, only for both instances waved off as slips.

Despite making it to the bell, Cartagena (17-7-1, 8KOs) wasn’t permitted to throw another punch. The corner of the Philadelphia native informed referee Harvey Dock to stop the contest prior to the start of round three.

The one-sided nature of the fight was properly reflected in final Compubox statistics. Yafai landed 92-of-233 total punches (39.8%) in just six minutes, compared to just 11-of-127 (8.7%) for Cartagena who is just 2-4-1 in his last seven starts.

Yafai rolls to 2-0 (2KOs), coming up big in his first stateside fight after making his pro debut just two months ago in London. The 29-year-old Brit is the younger brother of former WBA junior bantamweight titlist Kal Yafai and former title challenger Gamal Yafai.

Despite his desire to compete at the ten-round level, Yafai plans to develop as a traditional contender through at least his first year as a pro. Saturday’s fight came with a regional title at stake, which Yafai plans to use as a developmental tool before focusing on the division’s elite talent in 2023 and beyond.

Yafai-Cartagena opened the four-fight main show on DAZN. Headlining the show, undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor (20-0, 6KOs) of Bray, Ireland attempts her thirteenth overall title defense versus Brooklyn’s own record-setting, seven-division titlist Amanda Serrano (42-1-1, 30KOs).

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox